


Children of the Stars

by Blizardstar, tazficwriters



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Child!IPRE, Collaboration, Gen, Rule 1/1: No Dying In The Kid Cycle, Stolen Century, TAZ Fic Writers Discord
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-10 17:06:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13505976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blizardstar/pseuds/Blizardstar, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tazficwriters/pseuds/tazficwriters
Summary: One cycle during the IPRE’s 100 year journey through existence, a powerful evil wizard gets control of the Light of Creation. The Starblaster Crew is able to defeat them and collect the Light, but at a cost. With their final attack, the wizard cursed the majority of the group, leaving only Captain Davenport and Merle unaltered. The rest of the crew have been reverted to their 10 year old selves, retaining just enough memory to understand that the Starblaster is their home and these people are their friends. Davenport and Merle find no way to revert the wizards Light-boosted curse, leaving them all to wait out this cycle for the reset to return everyone to their normal state. Luckily they have the light, and this plane is populous and rather peaceful (aside from the odd crazed evil wizard, of course) so there’s not much peril that the children formerly (or yet to be?) of the IPRE wouldn’t be able to handle. Captain Davenport just hopes these kids won’t drive him mad before the year is up.





	Children of the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Or: Davenport and Merle never expected to take their roles as pseudo-parents to the rest of the crew quite so literally
> 
> Or: It’s domestic, slice of life fluff all the way down my dudes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Kiera (@AmazingSuperiority) and Eden (@ToTillAGarden) for beta-ing!

It was _supposed _to be an easy retrieval. This cycle's world was peaceful and populated, technologically similar to their home system's Plane of Thought, but societally and magically similar to their home planet.__

__When the Light had fallen in the mountains near the town where the Starblaster had anchored, they counted themselves lucky that it would only be a few days journey to retrieve it. They counted themselves even luckier when the locals had informed them that the peaks were generally inhospitable to life at that height. No goblins, dragons or other monsters dwelled there for them to worry about interfering with their mission._ _

__Of course, abandoned, isolated mountain ranges were the ideal location for the lair of any dark magic user, so they really shouldn't have been surprised to find one in the cave where the Light had landed._ _

__

__Davenport had stayed back on the ship, ready to make a quick getaway if need be. Six-on-one normally wouldn't have been much of a fair fight, especially with the crew's magical capabilities and teamwork, but with their magic boosted by the power of the Light of Creation the wizard was able to fend them off and even do some significant damage._ _

__At least, Merle thought they were a wizard. Could have been a warlock or a sorcerer, Merle was never very good at telling the difference between arcane spellcasters. Right now, he was hanging back, shielded near the cavern's entrance by Lucretia to protect his arm, which was badly damaged by some kind of necrotic energy. The more he moved, the more it spread, and too much exertion at this point and they might have to amputate it. Merle hated the idea of losing his arm so early in the cycle, his favorite arm too! They'd be able to heal it once they were back on the ship, but currently he was focused on buffing the rest of his team._ _

__The wizard was on their last legs now, bleeding heavily from a nasty wound on their shoulder from Magnus's axe, clothing singed and covered in burns from Lup's Fire Bolts. It was hard to see exactly what was going on from his vantage point, everyone clustered closely within range of the wizard, but Merle could see a flash of flame, hear a shout muffled by the barrier, and a bright white light filled the cave._ _

__Lucretia's shielding spell flickered out as the light receded, leaving the cavern eerily quiet before Merle's surprised shout broke the silence._ _

__"Holy shit!"_ _

__\- - -_ _

__Davenport paced back and forth on the deck of the Starblaster as he waited for his crew to return. The locals had said that the mountains were abandoned, but Davenport wasn't surprised when they had found signs of life near the entrance to the caverns and detected traces of dark magic from within. It really was just their luck that the Light had landed in the one cave inhabited by an evil wizard in the entire mountain range. It wasn't like it was anything their crew couldn’t handle, but it was still disappointing that the mission to retrieve the Light wasn't going to be as peaceful as they initially thought._ _

__The Starblaster was anchored off a cliff's edge a few minutes walk from the entrance to the cave. Davenport had been chosen as the one to stay behind on the ship while the others went to retrieve the Light because he was, of course, the best pilot; they needed him to be able to quickly fly the ship out from the narrow ravine in the case of an emergency escape. He had been pacing for what felt like an eternity but was likely closer to an hour when his sharp gnomish ears picked up the sound of crunching gravel coming from the entrance into the narrow passages of the mountainside, indicating someone approaching the cliff where the ship was docked._ _

__Six sets of footsteps, though something about them seemed... off. He walked over to the port of the Starblaster to begin setting up the gangway when he spotted Merle around 100 feet down the passageway, carrying the Light of Creation. That set off alarm bells for Davenport immediately. Merle seldom led the group or carried the Light. Someone more boisterous like Magnus or Lup usually took it, flaunting the Light all the way as more careful members Lucretia or Barry tried to snatch it back so it wouldn't end up thrown down some ravine for them to retrieve _again._ _ _

__

__Merle leading the pack meant something must have happened to the other members of the crew. Davenport noticed Merle call out to someone who had yet to round the corner from the deck railing, so at least someone else still had to be with him. Merle turned and caught sight of Davenport observing him from the deck and waved, calling him down to meet him on the ground. Davenport finished setting up the gangway and went to meet him at the bend in the ravine._ _

__"Merle, what happened? You don't normally carry the Light."  
Merle sighed and dropped the sheepish smile he had been holding.  
"Can't get anything past you, eh Captain?"  
"We've all lived crammed together on a ship for over thirty years, I don't think any of us can surprise anyone anymore."  
"I guess you’re right. Well, something did happen. I'm, uh, not quite sure _what_ happened but it seems like some sort of curse powered up by the Light? I really don't know that much about magic."  
Davenport raised an eyebrow. Something was definitely suspicious now.  
"Why don't you just ask Lucretia, I'm sure she knows."  
Merle shuffled and exhaled nervously.  
"That's, uh, that's exactly the problem Cap. She doesn't know either, anymore. Yet? How do you even reference something like that?"  
"Merle, you're not making any sense."  
"I'm not, am I? Well then just, uh, just see for yourself."  
Merle turned and shouted back behind the bend in the ravine.  
"Come on out, now."  
Davenport's raised eyebrow turned into a look of full shock when the five _tiny_ figures rounded the corner.  
"What the _hell_ happened to you all?" 

__\- - -_ _

__Five children rounded the corner, two elven, three human. It was his crew alright, but they looked like they'd been pulled from the past. The twins were holding hands tightly, standing shoulder to shoulder and glancing at the rest of the party suspiciously. Lucretia's casting rod seemed far too large for her new (old?) body. All of their clothes had been resized to fit their smaller bodies, except for Barry's glasses which still seemed a tad too big and kept sliding down his face. Magnus seemed the least concerned of any of them, waving at Davenport with a gap-toothed smile wide on his sideburnless face.  
"Heya Cap'n'port!"  
So they weren’t pulled directly from the past, it seemed.  
"You remember who I am?"  
"Uh yeah, you're my captain!"  
"Captain of what?"  
"That!"  
He pointed toward the Starblaster. Davenport turned back from following Magnus's hand to look quizzically at the young boy.  
"Magnus, how old are you?"  
"Eleven."  
Davenport turned to Merle with a sigh.  
"Let's get back on the ship and we can talk this out."  
Merle nodded and started walking back toward the Starblaster with the light, shouting back over his shoulder.  
"You heard the captain, back on the ship."  
Magnus took off in a sprint, overtaking Merle.  
"Race you there!"  
Lucretia and Barry shared a look and shrugged before following, albeit at a much more reasonable pace. The twins eyed the ship and Davenport suspiciously.  
"Well, aren't you coming?"  
"Why do you want us on that ship."  
"You live there, Taako."  
"Do we? You could be lying."  
"Of course, Lup. Magnus seemed to remember, don't you?"  
"We do."  
"But it seems,"  
"Wrong."  
God Davenport hoped they wouldn't keep talking in unison like that.  
"Just trust me. You're going to have to get on if you want to get off the mountain and back to a town anyway."  
The twins shared a look, ears twitching. It almost seemed like they were communicating psychically. _Elves can't do that, right?_ They seemed to conclude that it was safe enough and boarded the ship hand in hand. Merle helped Davenport raise the gangway and Davenport let out a sigh. Hopefully they would be able to get the curse, or whatever it was, lifted in town. 

__\- - -_ _

They weren't able to lift the curse. They went to several clerics and mages and, while they were able to fix Merle’s arm, none of them could find a way to reverse the effects of the wizard's Light-powered spell. Over the course of the day, however, they were able to determine the exact conditions of the spell. All five of them had been reverted back to the way they were when they were children. Personalities, beliefs, knowledge, physical bodies; they all were the way they were when they were pre-teens. They still seemed to remember enough to trust Davenport, Merle, and each other, though the twins still seemed suspicious of that fact itself. They would have to go shopping soon, to get clothes and food and possibly new medications and Gods know what else, but they had decided to start dealing with that tomorrow. 

That evening, Davenport and Merle sat together on the deck of the Starblaster, watching the sunset.  
"Looks like they're stuck like this until next cycle."  
"Seems like it."  
"We'll have to get them some new clothes in town sometime soon. Those ones are going to get dirty quick, especially if Magnus keeps rolling around with every stray dog he sees like he's been doing."  
"I never thought Magnus could get _more_ impulsive."  
"You said it."  
"Well, it isn't the worst it could have been."  
"Yeah, at least everyone is alive."  
A shout rang from inside the ship's out the door to the deck.  
"Davenport! Merle! Magnus says he’s hungry and he keeps trying to get in the cabinets!"  
Davenport and Merle turned to look at each other.  
"I don't know how to cook, do you?"  
"Only if it’s got the instructions on the box."  
"Fuck." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! The first chapter of the TAZ Fic Writer's Discord's first collab fic! I'm so glad my original idea was so enthusiastically received by the the server for everyone to be on board making it a collab! It took me absolutely ages to get this first chapter up but here it is! I've seen drafts of other peoples chapters already and I'm so excited this fic is finally live! Also while I know it says 10 years old in the summary, that's a bit flexible. Really the set age is legitimately "Angus" who is like 10-12 so anywhere within that range is good and it may vary between authors.


End file.
